McGregor vs Donald Cerrone MMA legend fight: no right to lose!

Donald Cerrone is a MMA legend, but a very convenient rival for Conor McGregor. He is broken, he often falls, he harnesses for a long time. Conor, by contrast, is especially good in the early rounds. Cerrone is better at fighting, but McGregor is a great defender against takedowns. Yes, Khabib Nurmagomedov, has broken the Irish, but Khabib is Khabib, a phenomenon.

McGregor's return was planned for the summer, but the Irishman broke his finger in training. Then Justin Gatzhi was to become his rival, who then, in September, knocked out Cowboy in the first round. Realizing how dangerous Gatgi is now, Dana White and the matchmakers picked up an opponent for McGregor easier. The logic is clear. None of the fighters bring UFC money like Conor. In the top 5 most rated shows in league history, four are tournaments featuring McGregor.

Promotion needs Conor to fight for titles and win. So the whole industry needs it - the Irishman is the most recognizable fighter in the world, the longer he will be in the game, the more they will talk about MMA, the more they will pay to fighters, the more sponsors, etc.

McGregor vs Donald Cerrone MMA legend fight

If McGregor loses, the probability of his revenge with Habib will turn to zero. A more box office battle now in MMA can not be. Habib-Ferguson is wonderful, Habib-Saint-Pierre is also wonderful. But Habib - Conor 2 - this is what everyone-all-all is waiting for. Let Nurmagomedov say that McGregor is the second league. But let's not deceive each other: their revenge is a megabyte. Important: the Dagestan can finish his career this year, that is, there is very little time left to organize a megabye.

White said that defeating Cerrone could bring the Irish to a duel with Habib. It will be dishonest - in order to gain revenge, there is little win against Cowboy (he has 6 defeats in the last 10 fights). But let's talk more about this after the end of UFC 246 - Cerrone actually has not lost yet.

He is an underdog, but anyone can finish in the welterweight. Donald is the UFC champion in the number of fights (33) and victories (23). And none of the promotion fighters beat hi-kicks as effectively as he does. After the battle was announced, rumors began to circulate that Cerrone would lose for a big fee. Of course, this is complete nonsense. This is not possible in the UFC. So we are waiting for a spectacular, honest fight - both the Irishman and the American are just not able to fight bored. But if for Cowboy, defeat is not a tragedy, then for MacGregor, losing is a disaster. He will cease to be considered a top, interest in his person will drop, and the UFC will have to look for a new hero. And again - there will be no revenge with Habib.

Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone

UFC 246, Las Vegas, T-Mobile Arena.

January 19, the start of the battle - approximately at 08.00 (Moscow time).

Live Broadcast - REN TV.

McGregor, watch out! You underestimate Cowboy in vain - he has already defeated great champions

“I can beat Cowboy even the sick,” Conor said. For these words, Cerrone may end his Irish career this weekend.

Until Conor McGregor returns to the octagon, nothing remains. Already in the early morning of January 19 Moscow time, the shocking Irishman will delight his fans with the appearance at the UFC 246 tournament, where he will meet with league veteran Donald Cerrone. Notorious for the first time since March 2016, they will face off against an opponent who occupies only fifth place in the UFC rating. Many already write off the Cowboy in advance and believe that Conor will get the victory without any options. In anticipation of the first star duel of the year, the “Championship” decided to recall Serron’s five high-profile successes so that you understand how dangerous it is to underestimate lively old people like Donald.

On April 19, 2014 in Orlando (Florida, USA), the UFC on FOX 11 tournament was held at the Amway Center arena. Fabricio Werdum and Travis Brown met in his main event. In the main card, there was also a place for a duel between the then very experienced Donald Cerrone and the Brazilian Edson Barbosa.

At that time, the American already had 12 fights in the UFC, including a victory over Jerry Stevens, as well as defeats against Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz and Rafael dos Agios. After two victories in a row, he approached the duel with Barbosa and took eighth place in the lightweight rating. As for Edson, he went on a series of three victories, and all in all at the UFC had eight fights, in seven of which he won. Such results made it possible for a fighter to occupy 10th place in the ranking and be considered one of the most promising lightweight promotions.

The meeting, for the most part, took place in a rack, and Barbosa did pretty well in control of what was happening in the cell, being able to several times bring hard hits to Cowboy. But less than two minutes before the end of the first round, Donald caught an opponent with an accurate hit in the jaw. Edson fell, and the American immediately held a strangulation. Everything happened with lightning speed, and Cerrone deservedly received a bonus for “Performance of the evening” for such a striking success.

Donald Cerrone - Eddie Alvarez. UFC 178. September 27, 2014

The next bright victory for Cerrone happened five months after the triumph in the confrontation with Barbosa. 2014 generally turned out to be a shock for Cowboy. The September fight with Eddie Alvarez was already the fourth for him in nine months, while he went on a series of four victories and on the eve of the UFC 178 tournament was already 5th in the organization’s ranking. The title fight was getting closer, and one of the last obstacles was a meeting with Alvarez.

For the latter, it was a UFC debut. In promotion No. 1, he started immediately after winning the belt at Bellator and came into the league with considerable ambitions. Eddie tried to reinforce them with a cool first round, in which he showed powerful work at close range and in a clinch. But Cerrone did not flinch and in the second five-minute turn the tide of the confrontation. In the third round, the "fed up" ex-Bellator champion looked frankly tired, while the cowboy who caught the courage carried out attacks for every taste and ultimately won the decision of the judges.

Donald Cerrone - Benson Henderson. UFC Fight Night 59. January 18, 2015

January 18, 2015, that is, exactly five years before the upcoming fight with McGregor, Cerrone held a duel with another former UFC lightweight champion - Benson Henderson. The uniqueness of that fight for the Cowboy was that he held the previous meeting on January 3, inflicting the first defeat in his professional career to Miles Jury.

For two weeks after this, Donald kept himself in control, did not allow to gain extra pounds and, in fact, had practically no time for a full recovery. Be that as it may, Cerrone knew perfectly well that a victory over an ex-champion, who would also become the seventh in a row, would almost certainly give him a title chance, and therefore did not miss such a case. As for Henderson, by that time he had already passed his peak, but nevertheless he was still an extremely dangerous opponent and took fifth place in the ranking.

Moreover, Donald felt uncomfortable against the background of the fact that in the past he had twice fought with Benson in the WEC league and lost to him twice. This time the fight with Henderson was also extremely difficult. The former UFC champion seemed a little more active, but Cerrone's attacks looked a little more convincing. And yet a small advantage then could be given to Benson. The judges decided differently, unanimously handing the victory to Cowboy. This provoked the indignation of Henderson, who thus lost for the first time in his career twice in a row. Statistics showed that Benson was almost twice as accurate as his opponent, which gave Donald’s victory an even more bitter aftertaste. Be that as it may, on paper Serrone won and extended a series of successful meetings to seven.

Donald Cerrone - Alexander Hernandez. UFC Fight Night 143.January 19, 2019

One of the most beautiful victories of Cerrone is still fresh in memory. On January 19 last year at a tournament in Brooklyn, he performed on the undercard of the title fight Henry Sehudo with TJ Dillashaw, where he met with promising Alexander Hernandez. For the latter, this was only the third fight of his career in the UFC, he won the first two, while in general he went to a series of victories in MMA from eight meetings.

But Hernandez failed to pass the test by the Cowboy. Alexander immediately began to work as the first number and pressed the opponent. Cerrone, although he missed, was not lost and did a good counterattack. Moreover, in one of the episodes he was given a takedown, but on the whole the younger fighter seemed more convincing. In the second round, Hernandez continued to pressure Donald, but this time the Cowboy made a surprise and struck a fierce high-kick. Hernandez was on canvas, and Cerrone rushed to finish, forcing the referee to stop the meeting.

The first two rounds went in a bitter struggle. After the fight, Cerrone stated that in the first five-minute period he was anywhere, but only not in battle and in the past years, he probably would have given up. But from the middle of the confrontation, Donald seized the initiative and simply dismantled Al for parts, flashing his front-kickakmi defense and the combination work of his hands. As a result, the Cowboy won the decision of the judges and after that for the first time in a long time he started talking about the title chances. After failures in the battles with Ferguson and Gatzha, I had to forget about it for now. Does he reanimate the hope of resuming the pursuit of the title in a fight with McGregor? We will get the answer soon, but one thing is certain: Cerrone, like a Phoenix, rises from the ashes and is able to surprise even after the most severe defeats.